Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under U.S. Control

Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal
immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

by Patrick Cockburn

A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American
military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the
US presidential election in November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The
Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi
officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent
bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from
Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the
basis for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US.
President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can
declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated.
But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would
undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to
withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John
McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq
Ð a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military
withdrawal. . . .

Mr Bush is determined to force the Iraqi government to sign the so-called
"strategic alliance" without modifications, by the end of next month. . . .

Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is believed to be personally opposed
to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government cannot stay
in power without US backing.

The deal also risks exacerbating the proxy war being fought between Iran and
the United States over who should be more influential in Iraq.

Although Iraqi ministers have said they will reject any agreement limiting
Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they will sign in
the end and simply want to establish their credentials as defenders of Iraqi
independence by a show of defiance now. . . .

The US is adamantly against the new security agreement being put to a
referendum in Iraq, suspecting that it would be voted down. . . .